Edwards' favorite book tells us he loves philosophy and history, and is tolerant of diverse views - rare indeed for a President.
I just learned – from my wife, who also just noticed this – that John Edwards’ favorite book is The Trial of Socrates.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments
26 - Dave Nalle
With Stone being an icon to such a specific target group which is exactly opposite from Edwards background, picking that particular book just seems awfully calculated to me, Paul.
Now I'm all tangled up trying to think what book I'd pick if someone asked me. It's a tough question, because you want to avoid looking weird or trivial (by being honest) and you want to pick something which will make people say 'ooh, he's cool'. And then there's the problem with how your tastes change over time, so what might have influenced you enormously might no longer be #1.
I'll toss up a top three, though.
The Glass Teat by Harlan Ellison
Love, Death and Money in the Pays D'Oc, Emanuel le Roi Ladurie
Billy Budd, Herman Melville
Bah, ridiculous and arbitrary. Lists of what you just read are probably more meaningful.
Dave
27 - Clavos
The real problem with government funding of embryonic (the distinction is important) stem cell research is that many taxpayers don't believe it should be done and therefore don't want their tax dollars supporting it.
I don't agree, but they certainly have a right to think that way.
In that sense, they're no different from the taxpayers who don't want the government funding the "war" in Iraq.
28 - Rodney Welch
It's not suspicious, Dave -- that's just silly. I've read a lot of books, and I can easily make best-of lists, but I can also tell you right off the bat that I never read a better novel than Remembrance of Things Past or a better biography than Richard Ellmann's James Joyce. Ask the extremely well-read Carlos Fuentes his favorite book and he'll say Don Quixote. Ask Lee Smith and she'll say Absalom, Absalom! It's not at all uncommon for exceptionally well-read people to name one book above all others.
29 - Servant
Wow. Election mania has set in so much there is an argument about a BOOK! Amazing...and a little sad. What you read does not completely reform your opinion. For an example, I read the Da Vinci Code and did not become a conspiracy theorist. To suggest that one's mind is idenical to what one reads is absurd.
30 - MCH
My three favorite books:
"Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot" by Al Franken;
"Bushwacked: Life In George W. Bush's America" by Molly Ivins;
and "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason.
31 - Dave Nalle
Rodney, I've read a few books myself - maybe too many - and I don't think it's weird that my 'favorite' at the moment changes pretty frequently.
And point is that list like this you can tailor to you audience, especially if you know them better tham they know you. Hell, wit the right books you can be all things to all people.
Dave
32 - Paul Levinson
Profull: An intellectual in the office of president is really not bad ,is it ? Americans in the last twenty years (since Ronald Reagan ) dont like intellectuals ! Even Bill Clinton did not look intellectual . He was another politician ! So if we do have an intelelctual in office .....it might change the way we conduct our foreign policies !
Precisely! Good to meet you!
33 - Paul Levinson
Dave: I'll toss up a top three, though.
The Glass Teat by Harlan Ellison
We're making progress: The Glass Teat is about the best book of tv criticism ever written ...
Hey, you should check out my reviews of The Sopranos, Lost, 24, and The Tudors over on Infinite Regress ... I like to think they're at least in the GT tradition...
34 - Paul Levinson
Dave: And point is that list like this you can tailor to you audience, especially if you know them better tham they know you. Hell, wit the right books you can be all things to all people.
True. But the choice of books - read or not - also gives everyone important insights into the candidate.
35 - Clavos
True. But the choice of books - read or not - also gives everyone important insights into the candidate.
Unless, of course, they're deliberately chosen to give a false insight.
And aren't we talking about lawyers/politicians?
36 - Arch Conservative
"Profull: An intellectual in the office of president is really not bad ,is it ? Americans in the last twenty years (since Ronald Reagan ) dont like intellectuals ! Even Bill Clinton did not look intellectual . He was another politician ! So if we do have an intelelctual in office .....it might change the way we conduct our foreign policies !"
HOw do we define "an intellectual?"
Is it someone who has read a lot of books?
Someone who is more intelligient than the average person?
Someone who uses big words?
The point is that referring to someone as "an intellectual" is a rather ambigous statement.
Not only that but being "an intellectual" says nothing about a person's character. Do we need somone in the white house who is "an intellectual" but is totally devoid of honor, honesty and compassion?
There are plenty of "non-intellectuals" that would do a much better job of leading this nation than many many so called "intellectuals."
And since no one asked....My favorite book/novel is An American Tragedy by Theodore Dresier.
37 - Lumpy
At the most basic level isn't an intellectual just someone who thinks about things and values knowledge?
38 - Dan
I liked reading this blog and about Izzy Stone's book on Socrates. I was privileged to teach it for one semester to two sections for a humanities course at Suffolk University. The students enjoyed the contrast between Stone's interpretation of the trial vs. that of Plato.
I would note was that there had been a coup by anti-democratic forces and Socrates was a favorite of the coup leaders and vice versa - so there was a context to the trial that Stone helped bring out in his wonderful book. And, no I don't think Edwards was being manipulative in selecting it as his favorite book. Now, why he is building a mega-mansion to live in - that is a better question - does he need the extra rooms for Mr. Ego?